Steam-boiler plant



July 22 1924. 1,502,564

F. HEATH STEAM BOILER PLANT Filed Jan. 26, 1923 s Shgets-Sheet 1 F.HEATH STEAM BOILER PLANT July 22, 1924. 1502;564

Filed Jan. 26, 1923 3 Sheets-She 2 I Minn 1|| III Patented July 22,1924.

warren STATES PATENT QFFICB FREDERICK HEATH, F BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTONSTEAM-BOILER PLANT.

Application filed January 26, 1923. Serial No.'615,'122.

plants which use 'oil as fuel and the primary object of the invention isto provide novel means whereby the flow of fuel will be automaticallycut off if a leak should develop in the oil delivery line. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide means whereby a reduction ofpressure in the oil delivery line will cause the flow of steam to theoil pump to be cut olf so that the feeding of oil will be arrested untilthe pressure-reducing cause be overcome. Another object of the inventionis to provide'an oil-controlling valve which will automatically out offthe flow of oil upon a reduction of pressure in the oil delivery lineand which must 'be manually set to restore workingcon'ditions therebyavoiding premature opening of the valve with resultant loss of fuel;Other incidental objects of the invention will appear in the course 'ofthe following description, and the invention resides 'incertain novelfeatures which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings;

Figure 1 is an elevation of a'portion of a boiler plant having mypresent invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the oil control valve;

Figure 3 is a detail section .on'the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Figure l is a l4 of Fig. 2;

Figure 5 'is an enlarged elevation of the plug or piston member of theoil "control valve;

Figure tion of the steam control valve;

Figure 7 is an enlarged section of the working member or piston of thesteam control valve. I

The boiler furnace 1 may be of any preferred design and may be one ofagangof boilers. It is equipped with oil burners 2 detail section on theline "in the steam line.

6 is an enlarged longitudinal secof any approved type and the oil tosupply these burners is drawn from a convenient source of supply througha suction pipe 3 by a pumpl. Steam to drive the pump is led theretothrough a steam line 5 connected with the steam space of the boiler anda steam control valve 6 is interposed A branch line 7 leads to anarch-chamber 8 and a bypass 9 is provided around the said branch linewhile a pressure gage '10 is fitted to the branch line. The oildeli-very line '11 connects the discharge port of the pump 4 with theburners V 2 and a meter 12 is fitted in the saidrline, a by-pass 13being provided around the meter. Heaters 14 are connected with the oildelivery pipe and, through a branch 15, with the steam line so that'theoil may be heated, if desired, before passing to the burners in orderthat it may be readily atomized at the burners and consequently burnfreely andproduce a hot-flame. The relation and arrangement of the partsthus far men; tioned may be varied to meet conditions and theillustration in t Figure 1 is largely conventional.

An oil control valve 16 is vfitted in the oil deli-verylineclose to'thepump and the discharge side of this valve is in communiis connectedwith'the discharge port or outlet of the pump, and also provided with anoutlet port 20 from which the oil delivery line 11 *leads and which ispreferably diametrically opposite the inlet port. A partition or web "21is provided within the easing-18 'and'extends vertically from a pointabove the outlet port downwardly to a horizontal "web .or partition 22which projects inwardly (from the side wall of the casing at a pointnear the'bottom-of the same, the interior of'the casing being therebydivided into a pressure chamber 23 and a passage at leading to theoutlet port. A port or opening 25 :in the web 22 establishescommunication between the chamber 23 and the passage Q L, and a circularboss 26 is formed on the upper :side of the partitionor web 22, theupper side of this boss'being inclined downwardly toward the web '21 asclearly shown at 27" in Figure 2. Within the chamber 23 and alinedaxially'with the opening 25 and the boss '26 isa barrel or piston guideand support 28 having its lower end inclined, as at 29, so as to lieparallel with the surface 27, the barrel being supported fixedly withinthe casing, as by arms 30 cast integral with the casing and the barrel.A free piston 31 is slidably mounted in the barrel with its lowerendadapted to enter the boss 26 and rest upon an internal annular shoulder32 therein, the piston being provided intermediate its ends with anannular shoulder 33 to engage an annular internal shoulder 34 in thebarrel and having a flange or bead 35 at its upper end to rest upon theupper end of the barrel. The piston will thus'be firmly supported in itslowest position without jamming and may be readily unseated when theapparatus is to operate. The piston is also con structed with annulargrooves 36 to receive piston packing rings 37 so as to have fiuidtightsliding fit in the barrel. It will be readily understood that the oilentering through the port 19 fills the chamber 23 and surrounds thebarrel 28, and it will be readily noted upon reference to Figure 2, thatthe piston, when in its lowest position, ex tends across the spacebetween the surfaces 27 and 29 and fills the bore of the boss 26 so thatthe oil will be held in the pressure chamber. To permit the oil toescape, it is obviously necessary to raise the piston so that at least aportion of the space between the surfaces 27 and 29 will be'opened tothe bore of the boss 26, and to accomplish this result I provide aplunger or lifting pin 38 which is aligned axially with the piston andis slidable through a gland 39 in the bottom of the valve casing. V Thelower end of the plunger is pivoted to a lever or handle 40 which isfulcrumed upon a bracket or hanger 41 depending from the valve casing.By swinging the handle upwardly, the plunger is carried against thelower end of the valve piston and caused to raise and unseat the same.'As the lower end of the valve piston clears the lowest point of thesurface 27 oil will flow into the port 25 and thence through the passage24 to the oil-delivery line. The volume .of the outfiowing oil willincrease as the piston rises across the escape opening between thesurfaces 27 and 29 until the lower end of the piston is within thebarrel at which time the maximum flow will be established.

On top of the casing 18 is secured a yoke or open frame 42 in which ismounted a stop rod 43 which is alined axially with the valve piston andis adjustable, toward and from the same through its threaded connection44 with the top of the frame 42, a handle wheel 45 being provided on theupper end of the rod to facilitate its manipulation. Immediately belowthe threaded portion of the rod, a pointer disk 46 is carried by the rodto coact with graduations to accurately setthe tube.

47 on the frame and enable the operator to accurately adjust the device.If the rod be set in its lowest position, it will bear upon the pistonand thereby prevent opening of the valve, and as the rod is raised itwill permit the valve to be opened to a greater or less extent so thatthe volume smooth-bored pressure-gage tube 48 is fitted around thestop-rod 43 and a hand wheel 49 on this tube coacts, as a pointer, withthe graduaticns 47 to enable the operator The lower end of the tube hasa threaded connection 50 with the bore of a gland 51 fitted in the topper end of the piston so that the valve will be balanced. If it be foundthat the valve tends to close, the exposed area of the upper end of thepiston may be further reduced by setting the tube 48 against the pistonas will be readily understood. 7 I

When the apparatus is operating normally, the pressure of the oil willkeep the valve open and the oil will flow to the burners. Should a leakdevelop in the oil-delivery line or the pressure be reduced from anyother cause between the oil control valve and the burners, the valvepiston will at once drop to its seat and cut off the fur ther flow ofoil. Obviously, the valve will not open automatically but the unseatinglever or handle must be raised to effect the opening and, if the handlebe raised before the leak is closed, the pressure under the valve willbe insui'iicient to hold it open and it will close as soon as the handleis released. Premature opening of the valve is thus avoided.

The steam control valve comprises a casing 52 having an inlet port 53 inone side and an outlet port 54 in its opposite side, and having acylindrical chamber 55 between and communicating with the ports.Slidably mounted in the cylinder is a piston 56 having an annular groove57 intermediate its ends. When the groove registers with the inlet andoutlet ports, flow of steam is permitted and the pump will be pansionspring 61 which bears upon the ad-.

jacent end of the piston and tends constantly to move the same to theclosed or cut-oil position. A secondary piston 62 is carried by thepiston rod and plays snugly in a secondary cylinder 63 formed in thevalve casing in axial alinement with the cylinder 55, and an oil inletport 64 leads through the wall of the valve casing into said cylinder 63at the outer side of the piston 62 so that the pressure of the oil willbe exerted upon the piston in opposition to the force of the spring 61.The piston rod extends through the valve casing and has its outer endattached to a hand lever 65 fulcrumed upon a post or bracket 66projecting from the valve casing. Normally the pressure of the oil willovercome the force of the spring 61 and the valve will be held in theposition shown in Figure 6, having been set in that position by manualmanipulation of the handle 65 when the operation of the apparatus isstarted. Should there be a reduction of pressure in the oil-deliveryline, that reduction will be at once manifested through the by-tube 17,which is connected in the port 64c, with a like reduction in thecylinder 63 so that the spring 61 will expand and force the piston toclosed position, cutting off the steam and stopping the pump. Whennormal conditions have been restored, the valve may be reopened and theoperation of the apparatus resumed.

From the foregoing descriptions, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a verysimple apparatus which will automatically cease to operate upon thedevelopm nt of a leak in the oil-delivery line. The controlling valvesare very sensitive and will respond instantly to a very slight reductionof pressure so that the possibility of hot oil being scattered upon theboilers and starting a disastrous fire is rendered negligible. Instarting the apparatus, the handle is swung upward to carry the liftingplunger 38 against the piston to unseat the latter which may be set tothe desired working pressure by adjusting the rod 43 and tube 48 Havingfully described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is

1. The combination of an oil burner, a pump, an oil line connecting thepump with the burner whereby oil under pressure will be supplied to theburner, and an oil-control valve interposed in the oil line, said valveclosing upon reduction of pressure in the oil line whereby to cut otithe further flow of oil. a i

2. The combination of an oil burner, a pump, an oil line connecting thepump with the burner whereby to supply oil under pressure to the burner,an oil-control valve interposed in the oil line operable to close uponreduction of pressure in the oil line whereby to cut off the flow ofoil, and manually operable means to set the valve in open position.

3. The combination of an oil burner, an oil line leading to the burner,means for feeding oil under pressure through the oil line, avalve casinginterposed in the oil line, and a valve piston in said casing responsiveto pressure in the oil line whereby to close and cut ofl the flow uponreduction of the pressure.

4. The combination of an oil burner, a pump, an oil line leading fromthe pump to the burner whereby fuel may be delivered under pressure tothe burner, a valve interposed in the oil line to control the flow therethrough and arranged to cut off the flow upon reduction of pressure inthe oil line between itself and the burner, a valve con trolling theflow of steam to the pump and in communication with the oil line to benormally held open by the pressure in the oil line, and means forclosing said valve upon reduction in said pressure.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

FREDEBICK HEATH.

Vitnesses:

BERTON ALnRoN HUNTooN, HENRY BAILEY DRISKO.

